Dialing in a Bud 6

[TheGrandWazoo]

Just purchased a bud 6 and wanted to know how other owners go about dialing in tone knobs. Not looking for settings but processes (e.g. turn down all the knobs first, then...). Nice amp. Sounds like my JazzKat but fuller and more expansive.

[omphalopsychos]

1. Start with knobs at noon.
2. Turn high mid way down, usually all the way to zero.
3. Flip bright switch on depending on the room.
4. Adjust bass up or down depending on the room.
5. Adjust treble up or down depending on the room.

I almost never touch the presence or low mid knobs.

[gitman]

My old Bud6 has a separate gain control AND a Master volume and depending on how I set the gain the sounds
gets more saturated/fatter - it does NOT add overdrive but the guitars sounds more "electric". My Tele likes more gain, the
hefty humbucker-equipped guitars need less. The tone controls are set depending on the overall volume I play at so that changes
also depending on where I play, what I play and what guitar I use. If I carry my extra 6" Raezers Edge cab I dial out some lows,
my brighter guitars don't need much or even any presence, the tweeter is only active when I plug in my nylonstring with the
piezo/mic combo pickup. The bright switch is pretty much always off (I don't like a bright sound except when comping in a funk band).
In a duo or trio setting (no drummer) I dial in a fuller sound but I'm careful not to infringe on the bassists territory,
with my organ trio I cut some lower mids and bass because the volume level automatically gets higher.
So there is no "standard" setting for me - with so many variables that is un-realistic
in my situation. The amp allows this and that for me is it's biggest plus, besides the small size and weight.
When you bought your amp new then you will also notice a change in tone as the speaker gets played in - and that does not happen fast, especially
when you mostly play at "living room" levels. Setting it up from the floor will have a drastic effect also ...

[Stringswinger]

I mostly leave all the controls at 12 o clock with the bright switch off. I use the volume and tone knobs on the guitar to adjust to the room and if necessary in a boomy room, I turn the bass down on the amp. It is a very easy adjustment for me. It seems I like the flat tone of a Bud 6 just fine. In fact, I think it is the best jazz guitar amp that I have ever owned.

And over the years, I have owned a LOT of amps.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

1. Start with knobs at noon.
2. Turn high mid way down, usually all the way to zero.
3. Flip bright switch on depending on the room.
4. Adjust bass up or down depending on the room.
5. Adjust treble up or down depending on the room.

I almost never touch the presence or low mid knobs.

I agree with your strategy, but my tactics are different. I start with all EQ knobs at noon and adjust one at a time in small increments (usually hours on the clock) up or down until I find the sweet spot. Then I set it back to noon and start with another range. Once I have what I think is the best EQ combination, I set each knob where I liked it best and tweak each range a bit to see if there's a setting with better interaction. This can take a half hour or more when starting with a new guitar, room, etc. I may cut one to 0 and advance it 3 hours at a time to look for the right range before refining the setting in finer increments. I leave the tweeter off.

I think that the guitar is at least as important as the room, and I use different settings for different instuments. Once I find the range I like for a given guitar, I rarely change much from room to room because the guitar's pots usually make small changes in tone that do the trick. My solid bodies need cuts in high, upper mid and presence to sound mellow and jazzy. But I cut the bass a bit for my archtops to keep the string balance more even. I like the 7th string to sound just like the other wound strings except lower in pitch. Most 7 string guitars set up for jazz seem a bit boomy at the bottom. The 7th often sounds more like a bass than an extended range guitar.

I also swap tone caps in my guitars until I find the one that puts out the sound I want. This is almost always a higher value than the stock one, so there's less need to cut highs in the amp.

[omphalopsychos]

One thing to note is that the EQ controls do almost nothing until you are 90 degrees away from noon. I don’t recall the rationale behind this design but when you are adjusting the knobs keep this in mind. You won’t hear much of any difference until you reach 9:00 or 3:00.

[omphalopsychos]

Last thing. That I’m sure everyone who has owned one of these for a while knows: tilt it up or elevate it off the ground. I made the mistake of putting it under the piano when there wasn’t much room (tiny setup area at a bar). I couldn’t hear myself at all but I was apparently blasting the audience. Lesson learned the hard way.

[sgosnell]

With a Fender-style tone stack, I start with the tone controls at zero. With any other stack, I start with everything at 12 o'clock, because that's flat. I then change some or all the controls, depending on what I hear with flat controls. Beyond that, it's every man for himself.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Last thing. That I’m sure everyone who has owned one of these for a while knows: tilt it up or elevate it off the ground. I made the mistake of putting it under the piano when there wasn’t much room (tiny setup area at a bar). I couldn’t hear myself at all but I was apparently blasting the audience. Lesson learned the hard way.

Yes indeed! In the good old days, restaurants and clubs all had ashtrays all over the place. I just used one or two with a folded cloth napkin on top to elevate the front of the amp. Twins had tilt legs that you could buy separately in two sizes from Fender to put on other amps, and I used them on any amp that was big enough.

When ashtrays disappeared, I started using small rubber wheel chocks as wedges. I also discovered that a thick gel pad for wrist support while using a computer keyboard is a great wedge for small amps. And now we can buy a wedge that folds flat for easy carry in the gig bag -



I bought a branded one from Henriksen when they had a sale. But you can get the exact same one with the On-Stage logo instead for $10 every day from Sweetwater.